Teaching Gender in Social Work - MailChimp

and retrieval of egg or sperm, fertilisation). This includes in vitro fertilisation
(IVF), gamete (gametes are reproductive cells — eggs and sperm) intra-fallopian
transfer (GIFT), donor insemination and surrogacy.
Stacy A. Hammons 29 argues that ART have fragmented motherhood
into social, gestational and genetic parts, giving rise to arguments as to which,
if any, of these various aspects of motherhood primacy should be given. 30 Lori
B. Andrews 31 remarks that ART make it possible for a child to have up to five
parents – a sperm donor, egg donor, surrogate who carries the pregnancy and
the couple who raise the child. The identity of the legal mother may be an issue
when ART are used. By separating the biological from the social, ART have the
potential to challenge the typical conception of motherhood, that is, one based
on biology, by de-emphasising genetic ties and elevating the importance of
social ones. 32 The societal response to ART use is mixed. Some feminists have,
for example, been in favour of such a shift. 33 Others have argued in favour of
biological bonds between children and mother. 34 Still others have warned that
ART may lessen the woman’s control over reproductive functions because ART
further medicalises the process of conception, pregnancy and birth.
Stacy A. Hammons 35 argues that practitioners must be aware of judicial
opinion in cases involving ART and women must be made aware of the legal
risks if they choose to participate in assisted reproduction. For example, intended
mothers need to be aware of their tenuous legal rights if they use a traditional
surrogate who then contests the surrogacy agreement. The term traditional
surrogate is used to refer to a woman who is impregnated with the sperm of a
man who is not an intimate partner and who is the genetic mother of the child
she carries; the gestational surrogate is used to refer to a woman who has no
genetic connection to the child she gives birth to. Stacy A. Hammons 36 stresses
this knowledge is critical if social work puts emphasis on the empowerment
and self-determination of clients. Research has documented the emotional and
29
. Ibid.
30
Shapiro et al, 2001, cited in Hammons, 2008.
31
Lori B. Andrews, “How is technology changing the meaning of motherhood for Western women.” in Widdows et
al. 2006, 124–139.
32
Andrews, 1989 in Hammons 2008.
33
Firestone, 1971; Oakley, 1974; Ruddick, 1982 cited in Hammons 2008.
34
Rapping, 1990 cited in Hammons, 2008.
35
Hammons, 2008.
36
Ibid.
153